1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to disposable sanitary gloves and, more specifically, to an Improved Glove Dispenser.
2. Description of Related Art
Individuals in the health care industry regularly don disposable sterilized gloves in order to prevent the transmission of bacteria or other contaminants to themselves and to others. It is typical for these gloves to be dispensed from a common cardboard box similar to those used to dispense disposable facial tissues. In order to don a pair of gloves, the individual typically grabs a glove and pulls it from the box using an uncovered hand. Using one ungloved hand, the user slips the glove on to the other hand, after which the gloved hand is used to grab the second glove from the box and then to don it upon the ungloved hand. If we analyze the steps in this process, we can see that while the gloves originally started out being clean and antiseptic, by the time they are actually on the user""s hand, they are likely to be anything but clean. In particular, the current (widely used) method requires the first glove and the glove dispenser to be touched by ungloved hands. As such, the first glove donned can no longer be expected to be sanitary. Furthermore, the user then uses this potentially soiled glove to grab the second glove in order to don it. It is not a stretch to believe that both gloves are no longer sterile and clean. In particular, it has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that an estimated 260,000 patients a year actually acquire a staff infection while they are in a hospital (that they didn""t have before entering the hospital). This amounts to approximately 13% of all the infections acquired within hospitals. These staff infections in particular are believed to be transmitted easily between the faces and the hands of human beings, and as such, would be easily transmitted in the aforementioned glove-donning process.
What is needed is a system that permits a user to don sanitary gloves without the need for them to first touch the outside of these gloves. In this way, the gloves would remain sanitary, even through the donning process.
In light of the aforementioned problems associated with the prior devices, it is an object of the present invention to provide an Improved Glove Dispenser. It is an object that the device of the present invention permit a user to don gloves without first touching their exterior. It is a further object that the device include a plurality of gloves attached by their cuffs to a filament, with the filament and cuffs being dispensed from an exchangeable glove cartridge. It is yet another object that the dispenser be responsive to a user""s voice. It is still another object that the invention provide a new method for donning gloves that will prevent user contamination of the gloves by touching the exterior of the gloves during the donning process.